That's the Spirit: Dr. Chun Wu Brings Life to Chemistry

When Dr. Chun Wu graduated with her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico, she had multiple job offers and one decision to make. After sitting down with leadership, a sense of Mount Marty's Benedictine hospitality and family environment urged her to the great plains of South Dakota.

That was 2005. Today, Dr. Wu is a student advisor, professor of chemistry, division chair of natural sciences, director of the pre-professional and medical lab science programs, and liaison of the MMU-SD Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN), a federal grant research program under the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Bringing Chemistry to Life

"All people are different. In high school, I liked chemistry the same way people liked sports or music. I always tell my students, 'People are good at certain things. Find what you're good at,'" replied Dr. Wu, when asked what inspired her to go into chemistry.

Beyond her innate passion for the subject, there's something else that stands out about Dr. Wu—the way that she teaches it. Chemistry is abstract and can be hard for many students to grasp, so she focuses on making her class as vivid as possible by bringing high levels of energy to the chem lab and correlating lessons to everyday life. Her approach to teaching earned her the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012.

Putting Students on Track

Dr. Wu is earnest in her role and defines success as seeing her students accepted into their master's and doctorate-level programs. She ensures her students have all the information they need to make an informed decision about their career path, including their strengths and weaknesses, a plan to stay on track, or alternative options available as a fallback strategy.

"When we place students, we cater to their needs and their potential. We respect them as individuals while also giving them advice that will place them on a track they can handle," Dr. Wu explains.

After seeing some students passionate about medical school but struggling to pass the MCAT, Dr. Wu didn't hesitate to initiate an MCAT preparation and systematic review course taught by six MMU instructors—two biologists, one chemist, one sociologist, one psychologist, and one physicist.

Pushing the Division Forward

Of the four programs within MMU's Natural Sciences Division, which received the Distinguished Leadership Award in 2020, multiple have had 100% placement rates. As faculty and staff work toward 100% placement in each, they're also excited about the opportunity to expand the division and offer more programs.

"Our faculty members are devoted to teaching. It's not just a way to make a living," says Dr. Wu. "If you want to give a student a glass of water, you need a bucket of water. Meaning, we need to know a lot more than we're teaching...the thing with our division is that every faculty member has their own expertise and is really into their field. It's our passion and our life path."

As the MMU community looks ahead to the future, Dr. Wu notes that the vision and strength of the University's leadership have been supplemental to its growth. "Mount Marty is getting bigger and stronger, and that's what I'm excited about."